Thursday, August 16, 2018

Is Social Justice Promotion on Its Way Out at ESPN?

It appears old school may be returning to ESPN after a move in the direction of social justice nonsense on the sports channel resulted in plummeting ratings.

ESPN is even in talks with Chris Berman about an expanded role for this NFL season, reports the New York Post. Could ESPN "go all the way?" Without Berman leading “Countdown,” the show’s numbers were down 12 percent last year.

According to the Post, Berman’s potential comeback coincides with executive vice president of production Norby Williamson re-emerging as the leader of the network’s studio programming. Williamson has championed some ESPN classics, including Keith Olbermann’s renewed presence on the network and a return to a more traditional “SportsCenter” for some hours of the day.

The old-school approach has worked on the 6 p.m. “SportsCenter” as viewership with Sage Steele and Kevin Negandhi rose each of the past five months compared to the Jemele Hill-Michael Smith combination from a year ago. The hope would be that Berman could add more gas into the old engine.

New ESPN president Jimmy Pitaro told reporters Friday that the network does not plan to televise the national anthem as part of its Monday Night Football broadcasts this season.

Pitaro, who was hired March 5 following the abrupt departure of John Skipper, told reporters at a media event on ESPN's campus in Bristol, Conn., that the network has not previously shown the national anthem during its Monday Night Football broadcasts and does not have plans to change — at least, not in the immediate future.

It's about time ESPN get out of both the military and lefty propaganda business.

4 comments:

I quit watching it a while ago. Sports is an entertainment break away from the constant news and political talk for many. They ruined it. You can stream almost any sport from Reddit. The "talent" at ESPN wanted to be a cause for change and they were. I changed the channel and cut cable.

I guess telling white males who mostly fund the sports industrial complex that they are racist and bigots does not make for good business. Too bad it took them this long to figure it out. Now if the NFL could get it's criminal players in line, they might have some hope to keep some fans.

Very few players act criminally. People tend to be very forgiving unless the actor committed atrocious acts of violence. ESPN's shift towards Social Justice and political correctness is what turned off viewers away from the network and not the sins of a few players.